Posts Tagged "Uncovering Oklahoma"

Time to talk about some projects I’ve finished. I like talking about those things.

Today, I finished the revamped Uncovering Oklahoma web site. It features the new logo that I’ve created. I also posted a performing arts Question and Answer session with Lyric Theatre’s Artistic Director, Michael Baron on their latest production, Boeing Boeing, which can be read here. I enjoy doing these Q&As as there are easy and unique since the local publications mainly do reviews and articles. My last Q&A was with Ghostlight Theatre Club on The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.

Toward the end of March, I actually finished writing out my novella, The Crashing of Heaven and Hell. I’ve sent it to friends for them to read and give me feedback. When I get it back from T.j. Schumann (who’s providing feedback and editing), and make my revisions, I will then have a book editor take a final look at it. While my friends are reading, I’ll be working on other aspects such as the book trailer, cover, and publicity. Gosh, there’s so many little things I could say about my progress. I’m glad I fixed my “trouble” chapter. I went outside one night and typed away on my iPod Touch. I found it to be just the inspiring boost I needed. When I write stories, I tend to have a “troubled” scene that I just hate. This chapter is the second to the last chapter, so I’m keeping quiet about it. Spoilers. :)

Well, it’s late and I’m rather tired. Goodnight!

Let’s review this month this, shall we? I have lots to talk about, so I’ll will hit the high points.

Thursday, March 4: I saw and video tapped The Doppelgangstas: Live in Concert as part of Thursdays Don’t Suck at the 51st Street Speakeasy in Oklahoma City, which wasn’t too far from where I live. The comedians were great.

Saturday, March 6: Sasha and I travelled to Sand Springs to visit Earth and Soul, the longest distance we’ve travelled to interview a business. Sasha interviewed owner of the shop, Rhonda Selig, and famous dream and tarot reader, Barbara Clark, for the seventh episode of Uncovering Oklahoma, Mystical Journeys.

Friday, March 19: I attended StorySLAM at the Istvan Gallery. Basically, people get up and tell stories shorter than seven minutes. The theme for March was travels on the open road. It was my first StorySLAM and I had preprepared a fictional story for the night. The crowd was much older than I expected, so I felt a bit odd being there, though some younger people did show up. I went by myself. I thought Eric Webb would be joining me there at least, but he had work. I really need to give my friend’s more notice about things I’m doing so they have a better chance of actually coming with me… Anyway, I told a story. I was worried about keeping it under seven minutes that I cut it too much, but I got a few laughs out of people. Only myself and one other person told a fictional story. Everyone else’s story had happened to them. They were all pretty funny and of course the funniest story won. There was about a dozen readers.

Tuesday, March 23: The Mystical Journeys segment on Earth and Soul was released. Read the blog post on that over at Uncovering Oklahoma for details about the place and our video interview.

I also had two business meetings that day as well. The first one was at Put A Cork In It. I met with their event coordinator and discussed plans to host a party for Uncovering Oklahoma’s One Year of Filming. I set the date and time for the event! Currently, we’re working on a press release and I will announce the event soon.

The second meeting was with a friend trying to put together a block of shows to air on TV. Uncovering Oklahoma will be part of that the line-up! We’ve talked about the idea in the past (it was one of the motivating factors to form the LLC), but this meeting we discussed matters face to face. However, us airing on TV won’t come to fruit for about two to three months, so I won’t go into details of the meeting. Sasha, Ali, and I are all excited at the prospect of being able to do this show for a living.

Thursday, March 25: After work, I went to the Oklahoma City Museum Of Art for their Last Thursdays of the month $5 after 5 deal. I saw Jason Peters’s Anti.Gravity.Material.Light. That display was wicked! It was my first time at the museum too. I really enjoyed Dale Chihuly: The Collection up on the third floor. It was a collection of glass art that was by far the most impressive art collection I personally saw at any art gallery. I snapped some pictures with my cellphone and sent them to friends. I was hoping that Ali and Whitney would be able to join me, but they had family matters to deal with. I’m glad I went though. I will try again to get a group to go for the next Thursday event in April.

Friday, March 26: I sent Ali and Sasha the spring itinerary for the series. I had started work on this outline back on 23rd. Some of our plans include a Route 66 road trip, free fitness training spots, organic eating, and awesome things you can learn.

Saturday, March 27: For Uncovering Oklahoma, I went with INsight Paranormal Investigations to Yukon for a ghost hunting session. My group personally didn’t see anything exciting, but the other groups saw odd lights and shadows moving around. If hunting for ghosts sounds like fun, they will be holding future investigations so check out the Stage Fright page for details.

Today: Well, as for today, I cleaned up my apartment (not completely). I had lunch outdoors with a cute and interesting girl and we walked around Bricktown. I bought some food, watched an old Doctor Who movie, watched Chuck and Castle on TV, and did some stuff for Uncovering Oklahoma. I’m wrapping up the night by writing this blog post. As you can see from this list, I’ve had a bunch of adventures to talk about. It feels to good to get them all written out.

The future: This week Uncovering Oklahoma will interview OKC Improv for the upcoming episode, Laughs around the City. (Yes, we will be airing segments from two different episodes at the same time.) We’ll also be doing an interview with the Allied Arts on the City Pass Card. Doctor Who returns Saturday!

Oh! April 16th is my Birthday! I want it to totally Kick-Ass, so here’s my tentative plan for it.

Start out with a kick-ass breakfast
Watch Kick-Ass in theatre
Have a Kick-Ass lunch (hopefully free)
Open some Kick-Ass presents
Have a Kick-Ass dinner (hopefully paid for as well)
Watch some Kick-Ass comedy at OKC Improv
Go to a Kick-Ass club with friends
Get laid

I’ve released Uncovering Oklahoma’s documentary video on Mister Rabbit this evening. The video is part of Episode 6: Shades of Fashion. Instead of showcasing several places all in one video, I’m releasing each segment as its own video. It was Sasha’s idea. I was kind of sort of thinking about maybe doing it, but she pushed for it. The title credits are actually the same from episode five. Sasha wanted to keep them consistent while I wanted to make something unique for the video. We both had been edited it since 10 am and wanted it to be done with anyway. I will work on a new title credit sequence tomorrow for Violet Avenue Boutique. :-) I’ve been meaning to make a new sequence anyway because I was never truly happy with one.

Anyway, the Mister Rabbit video is out. I updated the Uncovering Oklahoma Facebook page with a bunch of pictures that I took while we were there yesterday. Tomorrow, Sasha and I are going to finish the Violet Avenue Boutique segment and release that too. I know, I filmed them back in December and we’re just getting around to editing it. The segment will get done tomorrow though! We also may work on the Holiday Family Jam video too. We’ll just have to see what happens.

Later in the week I’m going to film another place with Ali. I’m not sure where yet. I’ve been trying to get an interview with Papa’s Leather Barn, but they have yet to reply. I am going to contact the people at Collective Thread and see if they can do something Friday or Saturday morning. I really would like to get Blue 7, however, the only times they can do interviews, none of us can.

Okay, I’ve been working on the show all day today, so go check it out and tell your friends.

It’s been too long, but Episode 5 of my travel show, Uncovering Oklahoma, has been released. In this episode, we visit Kamp’s for Robotic Wednesdays, Groovy’s for some funky times, and Paradise City where they’re not responsible for one night stands. The episode runs at about 15 minutes. If you want to learn about some great places to dance in the city that are outside of the Bricktown area, this episode is for you. By the way, for this episode the bloopers play at the end during the credits.

Not only is Episode 5 finally online, but the Uncovering Oklahoma site sports a glowing new look. Though, it’s what’s on the inside that really matters, right? So there’s also some new content in the Date Guide. I didn’t post that deals section as need deals to have a deals section.

We are already working on our next episode, which is dedicated to the metro’s fashion shops. Sasha is going through a bit of rough patch right now, so will start filming in awhile. We had planned to have a production meeting yesterday, but her father had to go to the ER.

Now, go watch the latest episode, tell your friends about the series (especially if they are rich and want to sponsor my show), and visit some of the places I’ve uncovered for you.

FIlming for Uncovering Oklahoma kicked off on April 15. I started out the afternoon exploring downtown Oklahoma City, checking out a few places I had been told to visit and trying to set up interviews for later that evening when Ali, the host for the episode, would join up. Ali, who was accompanied with his girlfriend, Whitney, meet up with me at around six in the evening.

We began on a segment on the Underground and that was a bumpy start. Shortly after I pulled out my video camera to record some shots, I heard this voice over the intercom saying that photography was not allowed. Both Ali and Whitney didn’t understand the intercom, but I knew what I heard, so we made our way to the security office to confirm it. When we arrived, I explained that we we filming the Underground for a documentary series. He told us that we would need permission and I was cool with that, so I asked who I would have to talk to in order to get permission. Long story short, the security had to check in with the manager and we were able to get permission right then and there. We went down to a hallway and I had Ali explain what the Underground was and why it was worth checking out. Since it had been awhile since he done anything on camera, we spent about half an hour trying to get the speech right. I got about two or three takes that should work. I also quickly picked up various extra footage of the Underground to roll with the segment.

Then after we got done with the Underground, we rushed to Put A Cork in It. I told the owner, Andrea, that we would be there around sevenish after we filmed the Underground, but it was more like 7:30 when we got there. Both the Underground and Put A Cork in it close at eight. Since it was an interview and we had filmed something earlier, the whole process went smoother. We did several takes to make everyone look good. Andrea snapped a few pictures of us for her Facebook and here they are below.

Then after that, we called it a night.

Overall, I am really excited. It looks like the Downtown segment will be the first episode that will air next month. We need to film a few more locations and have Charmaine interview one of the owners of a clothing store. I’ll keep you guys posted and I’ll hold back any spoilers.